Hydrogen is one of the most ideal energy sources in 21st century, hydrogen generates the most amount of energy under the circumstance of burning the same weight of coal, gasoline and hydrogen, and the product of combustion is water without ashes or emissions, which will not harm the environment; products of combustion of burning coal and petroleum are primarily CO2 and SO2, which cause the greenhouse effect and the acid rain respectively. Reserves of coal and petroleum are restricted, hydrogen is primarily reserved in water, and water is the only product of combustion, which can generate hydrogen continuously without limitation. Hydrogen is spread widely, water is the warehouse of hydrogen, with 11% hydrogen included. The soil contains 1.5% hydrogen; hydrogen can be found in petroleum, coal, natural gas, animals and plants. Hydrogen primarily exists in a form of water, and water covers 70% surface of the earth, which is considerable, therefore, hydrogen is a limitless resource. Hydrogen will be an inexpensive energy source if it can be produced by a proper method.
At present, an annual yield of hydrogen worldwide is around 36 thousand tons, hydrogen is primarily prepared by two methods: one is prepared by petroleum, coal and natural gas, which will consume limited mineral fuels, and most hydrogen is generated by the manner; the other is prepared by the method of electrolysis of water, which consumes a great deal of electric energy and is not economic, around 4% hydrogen is produced by the method. The technology that prepares hydrogen with methanol and water is improved with the development of technique, which can reduce energy consumption and costs in chemical production, hopefully substituting the process of electrolysis of water generating hydrogen that requires a large amount of electric energy. Hybrid gases of H2 and CO2 are obtained by advanced reforming technology of producing hydrogen with methanol and water, H2 and CO2 can be separated by a palladium membrane separator.
Referring to Chinese patent application No. 201310340475.0 (applicant: SHANGHAI HEJI DEDONG HYDROGEN MACHINE CO LTD), methanol and water vapor undergo methanol decomposition and a reaction of carbon monoxide in a temperature of 350-409° C. and a pressure of 1-5 MPa with assistance of a catalyst, producing hydrogen and carbon oxide, which is a multi-componential, multi-reactional catalytic system with gases and solids. Reaction equations are as follows:CH3OH→CO+2H2  (1)H2O+CO→CO2+H2  (2)CH3OH+H2O→CO2+3H2  (3)
H2 and CO2 generated by the reforming reaction are separated by the palladium membrane separator of a separation chamber, highly purified hydrogen can be achieved.
In the entire process of producing hydrogen, the reformer of the device producing hydrogen with methanol and water is the most critical hydrogen preparation device, the reformer includes a reforming housing and a combustion chamber and a reforming chamber in the reforming housing, generally, a temperature in the reforming chamber is 350-409° C., a temperature in the combustion chamber is 405-570° C., obviously, if an error occurs, the temperature in the reforming chamber or the combustion chamber can soar up to more than 1000° C. in a short period. The housing and base of a conventional reformer of a device for preparing hydrogen with methanol and water is produced by stainless steel, albeit with high strength and thermal stability, however, the housing and base of the reformer made out of stainless steel have following disadvantages: first, corrosion and oxidation easily occur under the circumstance of preparing hydrogen; second, thermal preservation is poor, heat loss is considerable, as stainless steel is thermal conductive, heat in the reforming chamber and the combustion chamber can be lost by being conducted through the stainless steel housing and base; third, as the temperature of the stainless steel housing and base is high, other components of the device producing hydrogen with methanol and water (i.e. a solid hydrogen reservoir, a methanol and water storage container, a resource transportation device, etc.) can be destroyed by high temperature of the housing and base of the reformer, so that performance and endurance will be impacted; fourth, as the device for preparing hydrogen with methanol and water is a vital device of an electrical generation system with methanol and water, and the electrical generation system with methanol and water also includes electric components such as a control system, a fuel cell (a galvanic pile), an inverter, an electromagnetic valve, an atmospheric pressure regulator, therefore, conductivity of the housing and base of the reformer can influence circuit design of the electrical generation system with methanol and water, even can cause a short circuit of the electrical generation system with methanol and water; fifth, the stainless steel housing and base of the reformer are heavy, which bring inconvenience to transportation of the hydrogen production device.